Jeff's service

It was really cool. Sad, but cool. We think at least 500 people attended the service on Thursday. There were about 50 people at the graveyard and about 80 at the viewing. Jeff would have laughed out loud. Cal and Sam read scripture, they did a great job. Andrew said a word about his dad...Danny helped lead singing and sang 2 songs and Jayne gave an invitation to accept Christ at the end...telling everyone that Jeff was waiting for us...and wanted to see everyone there...it was a mercy-filled day and we were blessed. We'll try and send a DVD of the service to cousins that ask for it...here are a few pictures.....

The Birthdays

On Sunday was Laynee Jo's 4th and on Friday was Uncle Butch's whatever..( I don't know how old he is) We celebrated with much family on both occasions. On the 22nd Uncle Bob and Dee and their Australian companions were able to join us. Mother served 41 people for lunch that day. Twas a great day for Miss Dalaynee...the uncles played and the children danced. Samuel Joseph joined the uncles and his dad in the circle in the front yard. Three generations were out there strummin' ....it was quite a cool thing. On Friday we converged on the Chicken House at Knotts Berry Farm for Uncle's Butch big day. Dalaynee was concerned about the big roller coaster there and "maybe we should rescue the people that are screaming on there". The kid has roller coaster issues. Both celebrations were grand....

Three men and a cake....ha

The Wedding

Andrew and Fatima got married on Saturday. They were hoping to do it before Jeff passed away, but didn't make it. It was a lovely day and now they are hitched. Here's some pics of the day. God Bless the New Nords!

a triple celebration

last weekend we gathered to celebrate mom and dad's 53rd anniversary, fathers day and sam got promoted to high school. lovely to celebrate, hard on the pocketbook. but it was fun. we have sadness overshadowing all of our celebrations because of Jeff, but we try to rise above it...sometimes we do, sometimes we just cry. such is life for our family right now....but God is good and we are blessed...

the dance

We went to a dance recital for Claire this past weekend. They had 39 numbers. Claire was 21. Dalaynee loved it at first but after Claire was done, she was ready to go. It was fun, but I couldn't get a good shot of Claire, cuz they were moving so much. I finally got this shot at the end. That's her in front with the long blond hair. We were proud! God bless Claire.

hats hats hats

They have a place in Shoreline Village called The Mad Hatter....this is the side of the building. The characters are painted on the building and the straw hat is nailed to the wall

that little blond head tried on almost every hat in the store...

she is "arghing" on the pirate hat picture...

...and this is Dalaynee's 4 year old photo session...

she'll be 4 in 2 weeks.

at the shore....

My job during this time with Jeff is to try and give Jayne and Dalaynee a way to escape the sadness for a bit. I took the day off on Friday and we headed for Shoreline Village...right there beside the Queen Mary. We ate hot dogs, fed birds, ate ice cream, played arcade games, sat by the water and (Dalaynee's favorite) rode the carousel as many times as she wanted. All in all, a good way to spend the day. God is good.

Life's a Carnival, My Friends

Preschool celebrated the end by having a carnival last Friday night...Miss D. was all excited..she never went to a real carnival before. Jeff's boys were able to stay with him, so us chicks "did" the carnival. Face painting, a jumper, a maze, limbo and cotton candy. Not a bad way to spend a Friday night, huh?